Grizzlies: ‘Soul of wilderness’

Tim Rubbert believes making adequate noise while hiking is the best way to avoid a surprise encounter with a grizzly bear, which is the cause of most maulings, and he urges all hikers to carry bear spray. Rubbert always hikes with two cans of bear spray on his pack belt, and he often carries one can in his hand with the safety off when he is hiking alone or hiking in areas with limited visibility.(Photo: COURTESY PHOTO/SUZI RUBBERT)

For Tim Rubbert, grizzlies are not just a sign of continuing wilderness, they’re the soul of wilderness.

“Our attitudes will determine the survival of the grizzly as well as the continuing existence of wilderness,” he wrote. “What really is grizzly country? It is some of the most spectacularly beautiful country on the planet. It is home not only to the grizzly, but to clean water, clean air, healthy forests, abundant vegetation and other wildlife. It is in one word: exhilarating.”

Rubbert is the author of the new guidebook “Hiking Safely in Grizzly Country: More Lessons Learned.” He published “Hiking with Grizzlies: Lessons Learned” a decade ago. Since then he’s hiked 20,000 more miles and experienced more than 1,000 grizzly bear sightings.

“Not surprisingly, I have learned more lessons,” he wrote. “I have also had a lot of time to reflect on the beliefs I held back then.”

In Glacier National Park a mother grizzly leads her cub down a hiking trail. A group of hikers had to back down the steep-sided trail until they found a safe place to move off. The bears continued down the trail past them.(Photo: COURTESY PHOTO/TIM RUBBERT)

“Of these six, making noise and carrying bear spray are the most important. If the reader remembers nothing else, these two safety procedures will make up for many miscues when hiking in grizzly country,” Rubbert wrote. “Making noise is the one tactic that offers the greatest protection against a negative encounter with a grizzly.”

A two-year-old male grizzly in Glacier eyes the photographer, who had made noise to let the bear know he was there. The photo was taken from a road.(Photo: COURTESY PHOTO/TIM RUBBERT)

His strategy for giving the bear a heads up is to loudly say, “Yoo-hoo” and “Helloooooo...” Sometimes he adds, “Hey, Booboo!”

“What we perceive as a safe situation may not be what the bear perceives,” Rubbert wrote. “Bears make up their own mind, and encounters can turn ugly very fast. Never assume a ‘tolerant’ bear will always be tolerant. Conditions and circumstances change. You must always be careful, watchful and prepared to use bear spray.”

“Always respect grizzlies no matter how or where you encounter them,” he said.

Rubbert is sharing stories of adventures in bear country at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. He’s joined by Babb photographer Tony Bynum and state bear expert Mike Madel. Like all Week of the Grizzly events, admission is free.